According to a new report published today, British technology company Nothing intends to launch a smartphone in the US in direct competition with Apple's iPhone.
In an interview with CNBC, Nothing CEO Carl Pei said the start-up is in 'early conversations' with US cellular carriers about launching a new phone in the US, but refrained from naming the carriers or phone model.
In July, Nothing launched its Phone 1 smartphone in over 40 markets, including the UK, Japan, India and continental European countries. At the time, the company said it had no plans for a general release of the Phone 1 in the US.
"The reason why we didn't launch in the US is because you need a lot of additional technical support, to support all the carriers and their unique customizations that they need to make on top of Android," Pei explained in an interview with CNBC. "We felt that we weren't ready before."
" Now we are in discussions with some carriers in the US to potentially launch a future product there," said the Chinese-Swedish entrepreneur."
Pei also admitted that it will not be easy for his company to compete with Apple on its own ground. "There is a challenge with Android, while iOS is becoming more and more dominant. They have a strong lock-in with iMessage, with AirDrop, especially among the Z generation. So this is a growing concern for me," he said.
'There could come a time when Apple has about 80 per cent of the overall market and that doesn't leave enough room for Android manufacturers to keep playing,' Pei added. Nothing has sold over 1 million products globally, with the Ear (1) earphones selling 600,000 units and the Phone (1) reaching 500,000 shipments.
The company expects to increase its revenues tenfold in 2022, from about $20 million in 2021 to an estimated $250 million this year, according to figures shared with CNBC. However, the company is still losing money, which, according to Pei, is partly due to foreign currency exchange. "We pay most of our COGS (cost of goods sold) in US dollars, but we earn in sterling, euros, Indian rupees, so everything has depreciated against the US dollar," Pei said. "The goal is to be profitable in 2024."
Update 12/5: "Phone (2) will not be launched anytime soon," Pei said in a tweet shortly after this article was published. "We are focused on doing a few things well and will not churn out dozens of products a year like many others." Pei's comments suggest that if the 'future product' planned for the US market is the Nothing Phone 2, it won't arrive for a while.
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